Body-support.



PATENTED 00T. 13

BODY SUBPORT.- AP-PLSIO'ATION FILED APB. 2B. 1902.

IN1/NMR I r r AYTOIPNEX mnuonms Pains co, wnufaumo., wsnms'roN, n. c.

ivo. 741,521.

UNITED STATES Patented October 13,

PATENT OFFICE.

BODY-SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent o. 741,521, dated October13, 1903.

' Application tiled April 28, 1902.

To a/ZZ whom t may concern:

. Be it known that I, WILLIAMU. G. MARTIN, of Indianapolis, county ofMarion, and State of Indiana, have invented'a certain new and usefulBody-Support; and I do hereby'declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to theaccompanying drawingsjn which like nn merals refer to like parts.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved body-support, aleading feature of which consists of a support for the upper part of thelegs and a connection between that and a support for the upper part ofthe body, especially the shoulders, whereby they will hold each other inplace and also hold in proper place intermediate body-supports, suchaship-supports, abdominal supports, and bustsupports. A r

The novel features ,ofsaid improvedbodysupport will be understood fromthe accom-V panying drawings and following description Vand claims. l Y`f In the drawings, Figure l-is a rear elevation of the body-support-inplace on a human figure, which is partly shown in outline. Fig. 2 is afront elevation of the same. Fig. 3 `is a detail view of a portion ofthe shoulder-support and adjacent portion of the bust-support with thelacing omitted. Fig. 4 is a detailed `view of the front portion of thebust- .support, showing the sides separated slightly. Fig. 5 is a frontelevation of a portion'of the abdominal support, showing the two sidesseparated somewhat.

In describing said body-support attention will irstbe given to theleg-support portion thereof. The leg-supports are two bandsonesurrounding each leg immediately below the hip and consisting. of anon-elastic portion 10, that extends around the'sides and front of theleg, and an elasticportion 11, which extends across the rear of thekieg. The elastic portion 11 is preferably formed of two parallel elasticstrips connected, respectively, to the upper and lower margins of theadjacent ends of the non-elastic portion of said support. The purpose ofthe elastic portion 11 is to cause the leg-supports to yield to the bendof the body and to support comfortably the portion of the bodyimmediately above said elastic support, and the comfort of such serian.105,017. me man.) d

elasticv portion is increased by forming it of I two parallel elasticstrips, so that 'they may independently yield insupporting the body. Thenon-elastic portions of the leg-supports are provided with stays 12 onboth the out' side and inside of the legs to maintain the proper widthand shape of the leg-support. At the outside of the legs said support isseparable, the ends being united bythe lacings.

' said leg-supports upward diagonallyacross the hips to a saddle 16 inthe middle of the back. Said hip-supports are elastic,the lower portionbeing divided into two elastic strips that diverge from the buckle 7 6and are considerably separated at the lower ends and secured bystitching or otherwise to the nonelastic portions of the leg-supports,one of said strips being on each side of the lacing 13. By dividing thehip-supports the two strips become independently elastic and yieldbetter to the portions of the body which they support during the variousmovements of the body, and they also give a more extended support to theexterior sides of the leg-sup.- ports. The upper ends of theVhip-supports consist of single elastic strips extending from the buckle16 to the buckle 17, whereby the length ofthe hip-supports is adj usted.The

buckle 17 is carried in the loop or fiap 18 at the lower end of thesaddle 16.

The saddle 16 is made preferably of two layers lof leather with avertical stay between them, said stay being shownl in dotted lines inFig. 1. The loops 18 are integral ears at the lower end of the saddlethat are extended through the buckles 17 and turned upward and back andsecured to the saddle by means j of a ball-and-socket fastening at 19.

. layers of the saddle, the strip of leather form- IOO ing said saddlebeing inserted through the loop before the leather strips are stitchedtogether to form the saddle. The shouldersupport consists of thefollowing portions: the vertical elastic portion 2l, the elastic portion22, that extends over each shoulder, the nonelastic portion 23, thatextends in front and under each arm, and the elastic portions 24,extending horizontally across the back. The elastic vertical portion 2lhas a leather lower end 25, that extends through the met-al loop 20 andis turned up and is connected with the upper portion of the latter by aball-andsocket fastening 2b'. A strip of leather 27 is secured to theupper end of the vertical portion 2l, that extends through a metal loop28, secured to the lower united ends of the shoulder-pieces 22 andwhereby the length of the shoulder support or brace may beincreasedordiminished. Theelastichorizontal portion 24 of theshoulder-support is stitched or secured to the lower end of the portion23. The two horizontal portions 24 are connected by the intermediateleather piece 29. It has an eye in it that fits over the ball in theballand-socket fastening 2G, whereby the lower rear ends of thenou-elastic portions 23 of the shoulders-support are united, and thelength of the connection between them is rendered adjustable by thebuckles 30, which secure the free ends of the elastic portions 24 afterthey have been extended through the metal loops 31, that are secured inthe intermediate leather pieces 29.

From the foregoing description it is seen that the shoulders-supportholds the leg-supports and hip-supports in their proper position and,onthe contrary, the leg-supports and hip-supports hold theshoulders-support in the proper position, the support for the lowerportion of the body and the support for the upper portion of the bodyacting against each other to hold each other in proper position, and yetthe supports are so made as to yield comfortably to the variousmovements ofthe body and be readily adjustable in length. Theleg-supports, combined with the hip-supports, held in the positionindicated are of great value to corpulent people. Combined with theforegoing are elastic hose-supports 33, which are secured at their upperends to the non-elastic portion of the leg-supports and preferably at apoint about opposite the lower end of one of the strips of thehip-supports on each leg.

The bust-support consists of a side nonelastic portion 34, (see Fig. 4,)a central nonelastic portion 35, and an intermediate elastic portion 36.The bust-support is connected with the non-elastic portion 23 of theshoulders-support on each side by laces 37 and is provided with verticalstays 38 to hold the bust-support in the propersize and shape. Theelastic portion 36 is preferably formed of horizontal elastic strips ofvarying widths, the narrow one being preferably above and the wider onesbelow, whereby the bust-support will conform more comfortably andaccurately to the Varying sizes of busts and especially accommodate thebust in its various movements during breathing and movements oftheshoulders. The lower elastic strips are preferably wider than the othersto furnish a sufficient and comfortable supportl to the weight of thebust above. The front portions 35 of the bust-supportare provided withfasteners 3S), of a common type, whereby the sup- 'port may readily beput on and taken off. In order to support properly the weight of thebust, thelowerborder of the bust-support is held and drawn into place bya horizontal strap 40, which is non-elastic and connected to one side ofthe bust-support at its lower margin and passes under the lower part ofthe shoulders-support at the center of lthe back and is connected by abuckle 4l to an elastic strap 42, that is secured to the other side ofthe bust-support. This latter is a means for adjusting and tighteningand loosening the lower part of the bust-support independently of theportions 23 and 24 of the shoulders-support that extend horizontallyacross the back and by which the bust-support as a whole may betightened.

The abdominal support consists of the main non-elastic portion 43 andelastic strips 44, which connect the non-elastic portions 43 with thesaddle 1G. The elastic strips 44 extend through metallic loops 45, heldby leather pieces 46, secured by laces to the saddle, and the strips 44are connected at their free ends to buckles 48, whereby the strips arerendered adjustable. There are two of these strips 44 for each side ofthe abdominal support, one secured to the upper margin and one at thelower margin, and b v being independently adjustable the upper and lowermargins of the abdominal support are divided to accommodate the varioussizes and forms of abdomens. This means of adjustment is aidedmaterially also by gores in the upper and lower margins of the abdominalsupport that are provided with lacings 49, whereby the upper and lowermargins are further adjusted. The abdominal support is provided in frontwith vertical stays 50 for maintaining its proper shape and fasteners 5lfor readily putting said abdominal support on and off the body. Whereneeded or desired, the abdominal support is held down in position by thecords 52, running through eyes in the lower part of the abdominalsupport and the upper part of the leg-supports, as shown in Fig. 2. Thecords 52 permit the adjustment of these two supports with relation toeach other.

The body-support herein described is readily put on the body or removedby merely fastening or unfastening the fasteners for the front of thebust and abdominal supports. The legs are iirst inserted through thelegsupports in placing the support on the body.

Then the arms are inserted through the shoulders-support and the bustand abdominal supm IOO IIO

ports fastened in front, the entire sides of the body-support beingseparated from each other by releasing the fasteners for the bust andabdominal supports in front.

What I claim as my invention is' l. In an article of the classdescribed, supports surroundin g the legs, each consisting of anon-elastic portion on the sides and front of the leg and an elasticportion across the rear of the leg, vertical stays in the non-elasticportion onthe inside and outside of each leg, hip-supports extendingupward from said leg-supports, and means on the body above the hips withwhich the hip-supports are connected.

2. In an article of the class described, supports surrounding the legs,each consisting of a non-elastic portion on the sides and front of theleg and an elastic portion across the rear of the leg, said non-elasticportion being separated on the outside of the leg and the separateportions thereof connected by lacings, hip-supports extending upwardfrom .said leg-supports, and means on the body above the hips with whichthe hip-supports are connected. v

3. In` an article of the class described, supports surrounding the legs,elastic supports.

for the hips with the lower ends spread and separately secured to saidleg-supports, and means on the body above the hips with which thehip-supports are connected at their upper ends.

4:. In an article of the class described, supports surrounding the legs,hip-supports eX- tending upward therefrom, each hip-support consistingof asingle upper portion and a divided lower portion secured at thelower end to said leg-supports, a support on the body above the hips,and a connection between Y.said upper support and the hip-supports.

5. In an article of the class described, supports surrounding the legs,hip-supports extending upward therefrom, a support for the shoulders, asaddle connecting the hip-supports and shoulders-support, abust-supportdetachably connected with said shoulderssupport, and anindependent means across the back for tightening the lower margin of thetwo sides of the bust-supports.

6, In an article of the classdescribed, supports 'surrounding' the legs,hip-supports extending upward therefrom, a support for the shoulders, asaddle connecting the hip-sup-v ports and the shoulders-support, abust-support detachablyconnected with Said shoulders-support, saidbust-support consisting of non-elastic portions and elastic portions,said elastic portions being formed of horizontal elastic strips.

7. In an article of the class described, supports surrounding the legs,hip-supports extending upward therefrom, a support for the shoulders, asaddle connecting the shoulderssupport and the hip-supports, anabdominal support connected at the rear with said saddle, and means forconnecting the lower front portion of the abdominal support to saidlegsupports. Y

8. In an article of the class described, supports surrounding the legs,hip-supports extending upward therefrom, a support for the shoulders, asaddle connecting the shoulderssupport and the hip-supports, anabdominal support with an adjustable connection at the rear of both itsupper and lower margins with said saddle, and laced gores in both theupper and lower margins in the front portion of the abdominal support.

9. In an article of the class described, supports surrounding the legs,hip-supports extending upward therefrom, a support for the shoulders, asaddle connecting the shoulderssupport at the back with saidhip-supports, a bust-support with the two sides connected with theshoulders support, an `abdominal support with the sides thereofconnected with the saddle at the back, said abdominal and bust supportsbeing each separated vertically in thefront, and means for detachablyuniting said separated portions of said abdominal and bust supports forholding the article as a whole on the bodyor removing the same.

In witness whereof I have hereunto aiiixed my signature in the presenceof the witnesses herein named. t v

- WILLIAM U. G. MARTIN.

FLORENCE E. BRYANT, V. H. LooKwooD.

